Crown Rot of Bananas Preharvest Factors Involved in Postharvest Disease Development and Integrated Control Methods

摘要

There is now some evidence that banana fruit physiology at harvest influences crown rot development and that all interactions among the microorganisms implicated should be considered. Taking these into account, a new concept of "banana quality potential at harvest" and a model of elaboration of this quality potential were proposed. In this model, the fruit quality potential at harvest is presented as a key factor in crown rot development. The quality potential develops during banana growth in the field and depends on two components: (i) a fruit physiological component, which determines the fruit susceptibility to the disease: and (ii) a parasitic component, which reflects a level of crown contamination by a fungal complex, as well as the pathogenicity of this complex. The influence of environmental and agrotechnical preharvest factors on these two components of the fruit quality potential is a new approach in postharvest disease research, and this paper discusses their importance in this review. A set of methods (pre and postharvest) that can usually be implemented in an integrated way to achieve efficient crown rot control is presented. These include sanitation of banana plantations, plastic sleeving, control of harvest stage, genetic (disease-resistant cultivars), chemical, biological and physical (hot water, UV and gamma-radiation treatments) control, sanitation of packing stations, and management of storage conditions (temperature, relative humidity and atmosphere).